MIT Discovers Halicin Antibiotic Using AI

Researchers at MIT used a deep-learning model to screen chemical libraries and identified a novel antibiotic named halicin that killed multiple drug-resistant bacterial strains in vitro and cleared infections in two mouse models. The model was trained on roughly 2,500 compounds and screened about 6,000 additional molecules in hours, finding chemically distinct candidates and demonstrating a rapid approach for antibiotic discovery.